SHIELD Tails: Iron Claws
by eenchilada98
Summary: She stood with him through the hardest time of his life. And then, without warning, she disappeared. Andraste Forsythe spends every minute running from her past. But sometimes you can't run. Sometimes, you can't get away from your past, no matter how hard you try. And sometimes, every once in a very long while... you don't want to.
1. Chapter 1: The Portal

**Chapter One: The Portal**

Andra Forsythe leaned against the metal railing, looking down at the scientists in the lab. It reminded her of her days back in Europe, when she'd been free to do as she pleased. When she would often look down at the people in the streets and wonder what it would be like to be a part of them. She'd enjoyed the chase then, the kill. She remembered how they ran in the streets to avoid rain, just as these people ran about in their lab coats, how they would –

"Back off," he called in a warning tone, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"You know, I need to stop letting you up here. I know they're annoying, but you keep going all predatory-animal and I don't want to see you get stuck back on ice 'cause you tried to attack a scientist."

"There's no chance of that happening," she protested.

"You were thinking about it."

"No, Clint, I wasn't."

"You were," he corrected, and she could hear the smirk in his voice, "You've got a tell."

She sighed and stood. When she came to her full height and stood before him, she was only an inch shorter than he was at about five feet, nine inches. Her bright green eyes met his blue ones, and a smirk crept its way onto her face. Hands at her sides, she cocked one hip to the side and stared him down.

"How do you know I've even got a tell?"

"Right, because I've noticed absolutely nothing about you in eight years."

"What is it?"

Clint scoffed and chuckled. "I'm not going to tell you what it is. That would be cheating."

Andra scoffed, shaking her head, and went to sit on the edge of the platform, lacing her arms through the bars of the railing. Of course, _he_ would know her tell. Clint's observation and perception abilities were rather annoying at times. They didn't call him Hawkeye because he liked birds; the man could shoot an arrow at a gnat 300 meters away and hit it straight-on. She had found that out very early into their friendship from a bet that she lost a good ten dollars on. He was a very gifted marksman, and his eyes never seemed to miss anything. _Anything_.

She looked over at Clint as he sat down beside her. She'd been his friend for such a long time now. It seemed like she could barely remember a time before she'd met Clint and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. He'd saved her life that night, as he had the life of their mutual friend, Natasha Romanoff. He was a good agent, but he was a better man. As a person, Clint Barton was one of the few that she could actually stand to be around for longer than an hour. On assignments, he noticed things almost no one else did, making him an invaluable asset to the mission. Outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., he was a perceptive and caring friend who knew equally when to tease about a mistake and when to stay silent and simply be there. Though she would never say it to him, she appreciated Clint more than she could begin to express.

When she came back, he had been the one to comfort her. Tasha had asked questions – too many questions – but Clint had known what she needed. A shoulder to lean on until she could find her own footing. He still hadn't pressed her to tell him what went down in Bolivia, no matter how many times she was certain the question had crossed his mind. He'd simply been there while she had rebuilt herself up from the ground. For that alone, she was eternally grateful to him.

A soft chuckle came from her companion, and she looked up at his face to find him looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "You gonna say what's on your mind, or are you just gonna stare at me?"

She cracked a smile. "Why, making you uncomfortable?"

"People are starting to get the wrong idea."

"What?" When he didn't say anything immediately, she stiffened. "The new rumor in the Admin building is about us, isn't it?"

He gave her a half-smile, half-smirk. "They think we're involved," he teased.

She laughed, but when his expression didn't change, she raised her eyebrows. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"The rumor is we're in a 'non-professional relationship'," he said, his half-smirk becoming a full one.

"Romantic or sexual?" He just nodded and she sighed. "It was Riley, wasn't it?"

"Probably," he agreed with an amused tone, "That's what he does best."

She groaned, rubbing her forehead with the side of her index finger. "I haven't taken my break today. I'll hit the lunch room in the admin building, see what I can do about this _rumor_ of his."

"You do that. I'll be right here, being bored."

"I'm only gonna be gone for half an hour; you'll survive."

"Hurry back."

With that, Andra stood and launched off the platform railing with one foot. She landed on both feet and dropped to a somersault to avoid any damage to her feet. The landing wouldn't have bothered her so much if the floor hadn't been concrete and had any amount of give. Andraste stood to her full height and walked away from the Nest. The Nest was the fun little moniker everyone tended to give to whatever place Hawkeye spent the majority of his time. At the moment, that was a small metal catwalk that extended around the walls of the laboratory, where he claimed he would be able to see everything. Since he had claimed the spot, it had been her prerogative to mingle around and speak with the scientists below.

Andra was just outside of the main lab and had started down a set of stairs when Barton called her back over the coms. She immediately rushed back into the room. The scientists below were rushing about and one of the computers was letting off a loud siren noise. Then the sirens of the entire laboratory began going off, amplifying the noise to the point that she winced in pain, her sensitive feline ears flattening against her head. Eventually, they got the sirens to turn off, but her ears rang.

She walked up to Selvig, who was working on a computer, apparently fascinated by whatever he was seeing. "What's going on?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure, she's never acted up like this before." Andra remembered his strange habit of referring to the Tesseract as a 'she' and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "These readings are like nothing I've ever seen; completely off the charts."

"Could it be dangerous?" she asked, glancing up to Clint, who looked back at her nearly blankly.

"Potentially, yes," he admitted, and he frowned. "She's emitting gamma radiation."

Her eyes widened. "Good to know," she mused as she walked away, picking up her walkie-talkie off her belt and switching it to the major channel. "Hill, this is Forsythe. Do you copy?"

There was no reply, then a bit of static. "This is Hill; I copy. What's the status down there?"

"Selvig says the Tesseract is 'acting up.' It's releasing gamma radiation. Get somebody to call the Director, ASAP."

"Copy that."

She then switched to the channel she and Clint had found for themselves and looked up at him. "You gonna come down from there, Birdy?"

He picked up his walkie-talkie and smirked at her from above. "I'm fine up here. What's going on?"

She sighed. "If you bothered to listen to the main channel every once in a while, you'd already know."

"Just tell me what's wrong."

"Selvig says the Tesseract's acting up. Says it's releasing some kind of gamma radiation, and he says his readings are off the charts."

"You talk to Hill and Coulson?"

"Hill; not Coulson. That would be my next mission. I've got Hill on the horn to Fury, see what he wants us to do."

"Knowing him, we'll be sitting tight for now."

"Likely. Switching channels to the main now, and I suggest you do the same." He started to say something, but she switched to the main channel before he could finish his sentence.

Coulson's voice came over the slight static. " – you copy? Andra, are you there?"

"I'm here," she responded, "I copy."

"What's the status on the Tesseract?"

"Acting up, according to Selvig. Says it's releasing gamma radiation. It's potentially dangerous."

Coulson was silent. "I'm ordering a full-scale evac of the facility. I want you and Barton to hang tight with those scientists until the Director gets here. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, nodding even though he couldn't see her.

"He still not on the main channel?"

"Considering he's not said a thing, I assume not," she looked up at Clint as she said this.

There was nothing for a moment. "Somebody needs to put a leash on that guy."

Andra could do nothing but laugh. "Agreed."

* * *

She was leaning against the wall as she had been for the past hour, arms crossed and one leg propped up against the concrete. The scientists hadn't been informed about the evacuation, so were merely working as before. Andra had ruled out the necessity to tell them of the protocol, seeing as it would only hinder their progress. Compartmentalization was key to success in S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Agents, report."

She turned her head and saw the Director walking towards the computers of the lab, speaking with Selvig about the situation. She heard him mention something about the Tesseract 'behaving' and knew Fury was now up to date on all the recent happenings at the PEGASUS base. It took more effort than it should have to push off the wall and walk towards her superior. Clint's boots hit the floor and she looked over her shoulder at him as he strode over to them.

"Agent Barton, I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things," he reprimanded him.

"Well, I see better from a distance," Clint defended with an almost snippy tone.

"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Fury continued, looking between the two of them now.

"Nothing's happened on the ground, sir. Scientists have been doing nothing but working," Andra mentioned, "And no malicious intent anywhere. They're all here for the same purpose."

Clint nodded. "No one's come or gone. Selvig is clean; no contacts, no IM's," he looked at the glowing blue cube, "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

"At this end?" Their superior raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides," he explained.

As if the Tesseract wished to confirm what he was saying, it glowed brighter and seemed to gather a cloud of moving energy around it. Then a beam erupted from the other end of it, shooting towards an incredibly convenient platform behind it. A portal opened where it shot. Through it, thousands of stars could be seen, shining in some sort of purple glow. It was… for lack of words to truly describe it, it was beautiful. Then the image collapsed in on itself and released a burst of energy that knocked them all back before rising to the high ceiling of the cavern-sized lab. Andra blinked the temporary blindness from her eyes as she sat up, raising a hand to the back of her aching skull.

She squinted at the platform and saw a mass of something black remaining on it, completely engulfed in what looked to be a blue fire. Then it faded and she made out the form of a man kneeling there. He slowly stood while agents began to surround him and she took a good look at him. He was tall, maybe six feet or so, and very thin. His face was gaunt and his eyes appeared sunken, with a crazed look to them. The smile that played across his lips was haunting, and she found herself shrinking away from him just slightly. He was clothed in black, with what looked like accents of green. There were bracers on his arms that looked like gold and he was holding in his right hand a spear. It was short for a spear, but it was pointed at the end and she could think of no better name for it. His eyes searched the room, stopping for a brief moment on herself.

Fury looked up at him and shouted, "Sir, please put down the spear!"

Instead of taking Fury's advice, he merely looked down at the weapon in his hands as if unsure what it was. Then he raised it again and shot a blue burst of energy at them. Clint knocked Fury out of the way as Andra rolled to the side, all three successfully avoiding the blast, but it destroyed the equipment behind them. Agents dove at the man, guns firing, but he proved to be far more powerful than they were. Blue bursts from his spear and knives from _somewhere_ in his strange ensemble killed the agents quickly and efficiently.

Andra quickly came to the conclusion that he was well-trained – by who and where, she had no idea. His fighting style was different than most of the ones she was used to. It had similarities to a lot of styles, but it was very unique in its fluidity and power. He was strong and fast. She stood slowly, testing her stability, and looked towards Clint, who was on the other side of the room, standing and holding his side. Was he injured? She worried for a second about how severe his injuries were, before her attention was gained by another problem. A jolt of pain raced through her arm and she grabbed it with her other hand, feeling something sharp brushing her fingers before she ever reached it. Andra looked to her left and saw that her left arm had a piece of metal imbedded in it.

She dove behind an overturned table and hissed when she accidentally banged her left shoulder against it. Her hand came up and she looked at her wound as she touched it gently. Then she grabbed a hold of the metal shard and yanked it out. She bit her tongue to keep from crying out in pain and could taste blood. The shard made a high-pitched _clinging_ noise as she dropped it on the ground. Andra looked around quickly, seeing no first aid kits on her side of the room. She hissed again as she retrieved a cable from her belt and began wrapping it around her upper arm to act as a tourniquet. There was nothing she could use as bandaging at this moment, she would have to do that later. The wound was deep, but not deep enough that she'd bleed out anytime soon. At least… she hoped.

Once she was finished with the little medical aid she could do at the moment, she got up on her haunches and glanced over the back of the table. The strange man was touching the end of his scepter to the left side of Clint's chest, just over his heart. Andra watched as Clint's eyes turned a full, demonic black, then a light, cold, almost lifeless blue. Then he lowered his gun back into its holster, and nodded at the man. _What?_ She was confused. The male moved on to another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Donovan, turning him to his side with a simple touch over his heart. It appeared to be some type of brain-washing, since neither of them fought back from the moment that he touched their chests and made their eyes turn blue. Andra spared a glance around the room, surveyed the scene and her eyes caught sight of Fury putting the Tesseract in a case and cautiously standing up.

The man froze and turned around slowly. "Please don't. I still need that," he said in a low, deep-voiced accent that sounded almost British, but not quite. It was unidentifiable and that worried her.

"This doesn't have to get any messier," Fury replied as he turned around to face him.

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose," he announced.

Selvig looked up from his place on the floor. "Loki? Brother of Thor?"

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury told him, sounding very confident.

The man – Loki, apparently – looked at him with an amused expression. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

"Are you planning to step on us?"

Andra mustered up what strength she had and stood. The wound in her arm was weakening her, but she attempted not to let it show. This man was, for the moment, the enemy, and she couldn't show weakness if she was going to fight him. She wasn't letting them leave here if she had a choice, she'd already made up her mind about that. There was something about this Loki guy that _screamed_ 'dangerous villain,' and there was no way she was letting him walk out of here with the source of untapped, unmeasured power that he apparently 'needed.'

"I come with glad tidings," he corrected Fury, smiling as the Cheshire Cat would, "of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Fury asked.

"Freedom."

"Freedom?" Andra repeated incredulously. How could you be free from freedom? It was a paradox, and thinking of it now would likely make her head spin.

He smiled at her momentarily before adopting a more serious expression. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," here he turned and pointed his staff at Selvig, turning his eyes bright blue as well, and said softly and gently, "You will know peace."

Fury tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, you say peace, I kinda think you mean the other thing."

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow," Clint interrupted, and Andra, not for the first time in her life, wanted really badly to hit him, "Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

"Like the Pharaohs of old," Fury confirmed. He was lying through his teeth. Maybe buying them time was the objective, but burying them was not, and she knew that perfectly well.

Selvig checked on the computers. "He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well then…" Loki trailed off, and looked at Clint who raised his arm and shot Fury in the chest, walking over to grab the case he'd been holding.

Andra would have stopped him, but he held the gun in her direction, and she knew if she moved, he'd kill her. Or would he? Clint had shot Fury _in the chest._ If he had intended to take Fury out, he would have taken Fury out instantly, no questions asked. One bullet to the head. So why hadn't he? Clint Barton never, _ever_ missed. Which meant he had aimed for his chest. Which meant he wasn't completely taken over. He was still in there, somewhere.

There was hope.

* * *

 _So, what do you think of the first chapter of the new version? I know, it's been up here before, but it's in a separate book now! Oooooh!_

 _*laughs* I know, not very exciting._

 _But hopefully the chapter was! What did you think?_

 _Any questions, comments, concerns? Want to hit Clint? Review or drop me a line!_

 _\- Emmy_


	2. Chapter 2: Reminiscent

_Wow, I've been neglecting you guys for so long... I feel like a silly, horrible person. I still love you, I promise, and I know I haven't been the best as uploading, but... here? My sincerest apologies and many many cookies. :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Reminiscent**

Fury was breathing, at least. Maybe not entirely clearly, but he was breathing. Andraste knew something had to be done about the Tesseract, but S.H.I.E.L.D. would fall without its Director. And if S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, the game was over. Loki would get what he wanted. _Whatever_ he wanted.

"Fury," she asked in a warning tone, crouching down beside him, "Fury, are you –"

"Tess… get it…" he wheezed, appearing fine as he began to try and pull the bullet out of his bullet-proof vest. It made her very happy that he was wearing that.

She stood on shaky legs that she took muscle control of instantly, standing strong and tall. "Stop!" she yelled as she pulled out her handgun and aimed it at the back of Loki's head, and they did. _Miraculous._

Loki turned around and looked at her, gazing at her tail and ears. "What do you want, feline?"

"That doesn't belong to you."

He raised an eyebrow. "And it does you?"

"It belongs to the world. It's an energy source," she explained. If he was thinking to use it as a weapon, he was going to be sorely mistaken. "It should be used for the good of everyone."

"And it will be," he promised with a wide smile, "I intend to use the Tesseract to free your people."

"My people are free, Asgardian. Are yours?"

He scowled for a moment. "Why do you fight me, Feline?"

Andra shook her head. "Because you're a threat. I eliminate threats."

"A threat to _what_? A corrupt world that fights amongst its own people; that murders its own kind?" he asked, and looked sympathetically at her. "You live in such destruction, and yet, you do not realize it. Is this how you would choose to live? Each day, spent in a world succumbed to chaos? Your world is ill; it needs to be healed."

"I won't say we're perfect," she admitted with a nod, "I'm not blind. I know we have problems, but you're not the solution," here she looked straight at him with a blank expression, "We've had people like you come through before. We fought against them, and we'll fight against you. And you will fall, just like they did."

"You seem blindly confident in your peoples' loyalty," he observed, and smiled at her, "Praytell, what is your name?"

"Agent Forsythe, of S.H.I.E.L.D. And I am confident. I know the American people. They'll take you down however they have to, to keep you away from their freedom."

Loki simply shook his head. "I am afraid I cannot stay, Agent, or I would continue our little debate. But as Barton said, we must go. I will you good health, Miss Forsythe, and I hope we meet again," he said with a gentlemanly bow, and with that, he left.

Andra shot Donovan in the arm as Loki and the other two walked off. Clint turned around and fired back at her, causing her to duck and roll behind a table. They exited the room and she came out from behind the table, running to Fury's side. He had almost pulled the bullet from his vest at this point and was connecting up to the com-links.

"Hill, do you copy? Barton is…" Fury trailed off, breathing heavily as he pulled the bullet from his chest.

Andra helped Fury to his feet, trying to get them out of the facility before it collapsed on top of them. They ducked underneath falling debris and exploding wiring for the base. He looked at her and waved her ahead as they exited the room, holding his injured side.

"He's got the Tesseract!" he yelled at her, "Track it down!"

Instantly, she nodded and continued down the steps. Her destination was the garage below the laboratory building. They would have wanted the quickest escape, and a vehicle was the quickest and most inconspicuous way out of the facility. She hit the floor and ran, running into the room as she caught sight of Hill driving down the tunnel in a Jeep. Andra stopped for only a moment. Hill was in pursuit of Loki and the others. This tunnel didn't come out until almost the edge of the facility property. There was no use in following now, she'd only be in the way. Her mind switched to ensuring the Director's safety.

She continued out the emergency exit on the other end of the room. It led to a set of stairs that, if she remembered correctly, would lead just outside the main foyer of the building. Her legs pounded on the metal steps and she could feel them begin to move faster. It was a blessing, her feline genes, as she could move herself at twice the speed of a normal human. Tasha often joked that her alternate career should be an Olympic level runner. When she reached the ground floor, she pushed through the door and ran down the tiled hall. There were men in the room, and she pushed past them. She left the front doors, almost literally running into Coulson on the stairs.

She skidded to a halt right beside him. "Fury. Have you seen him?"

"No. Wasn't he in the lab with you?"

"No time to explain, I need –"

There was a large shaking in the ground. Phil and she grabbed onto each other to keep balance as they shook. Their eyes met and he turned to the guys in front of them, telling them to leave the heavy equipment they were carrying and leave the grounds. She heard him calling after her as she took off around the building. The ground crumbled and collapsed around her, causing her to jump from piece to piece. Left, right, left, right, left, right. Her focus remained solely on the movement of her feet. The ground became more solid as she continued, and she wondered if it was merely in a small area. Andra saw Fury's helicopter running on the side of the building, silent relief filling her for only a split second as she continued to sprint towards the landing pad.

The ground began to collapse around her again and Andra ran as fast as she possibly could, willing her feet to fly across the ground. A large chunk of the ground fell before her. She sped up, and ran towards it at full speed, pushing one foot into the ground then and launching towards the chopper. For a long moment, she flew through the air, weightless. Her hand outstretched and caught the handle on the side. She used her momentum to swing herself into the cabin of the helicopter, landing securely on her feet and hands. Andraste stood and leaned against the back metal wall, catching her breath. The ground began to collapse underneath the vehicle and the pilot looked back at her worriedly.

"Where's the Director?"

She turned her head and looked out of the side towards the building, seeing nothing. "He'll be here!"

Another few seconds passed. "If we don't lift off soon, we're going to lose the chopper!"

"Wait!"

"I have to lift off, we're going to sink!"

"Stay on the ground, pilot!"

"I can't!"

Andra saw the Director come out the doors and shouted back, "You stay on this ground, pilot, or I will personally kill you!"

"I stay here, the _ground_ will kill us both!"

"Five seconds! Five seconds, damn it!"

Fury came running up to the chopper and she reached out her hand. He leapt to get on as they lifted off from the ground. She caught his hand and pulled him into the chopper safely, staggering back two steps as she pulled him in. He caught his breath for a moment and placed his hand on his side, the pain left from the bullet bothering him. His eyes looked at her as he breathed, rising an eyebrow.

"I thought I sent you after Loki."

She nodded. "You did. Lost him to Hill, decided to come after you."

He paused for a moment and stood up. "Forsythe – your arm."

She looked down at it and saw that it was bleeding heavily, running down the length of her arm and dripping onto the floor. This registered in her brain as a bad thing long before her mind released the pain it had been ignoring with the adrenaline and she hissed. It stung and ached, and she reached over to touch it. Her head pounded suddenly and her vision blurred momentarily. Andra stumbled with the rocking of the helicopter, straight into the wall, where she caught herself with her right arm. Her head was spinning and she found she couldn't see straight. Blood loss. She didn't get a chance to do much however, as Fury looked over and saw something, stepping to the edge of the chopper and shooting at it. Andra instantly drew her sidearm, aiming it at the same thing Fury was shooting at – Loki. He was riding in the back of another Jeep, and had just emerged from the tunnel, but Hill wasn't behind it. The ground had collapsed mostly behind them, and she wondered for a moment if Maria was even still alive. There was no way she could have survived that.

This thought was pushed to the back of her mind as she took aim and fired. To the left of him, and to the right of him, above him, and below him, but she couldn't hit him. Her aim was off. She couldn't even hit the Jeep. Her vision blurred and breathing became difficult. She panted as she held her handgun loosely in both hands. The world spun around her, full of darkness with bits of light and the smell of gas and smoke and blood. Bile rose in her throat and she couldn't think straight. Couldn't think straight, couldn't shoot straight, couldn't see straight… she was really crooked at that moment.

Loki noticed the shots around him and looked up at the aerial vehicle, observing it and its occupants for a moment. His eyes locked to hers and he nodded slightly at her with a concerned expression before shooting at the rotors above them. He hit them and the side of the metal, causing the helicopter to fall rapidly. It began to spin as it fell, causing Andra to reach out to grab the handle on the side of the framework. Her injured left arm caught it and she hung on as well as she could for dear life. The chopper tilted and she felt her feet begin to slip. They slid until they reached the edge of the metal floor… and then left it. She was caught in midair, dangling. But her injured arm could not support her weight and pain shot through her, weakening her fingers until they released the handle. She fell.

A feeling of weightlessness engulfed her. The world was muted somehow, she couldn't hear the sounds of the helicopter falling anymore. Briefly, she registered the sight of Fury reaching out towards her, then stopping to grab his own handle to keep himself from falling like her. He was yelling something, but she couldn't hear it. The world had slowed down, she could experience every moment. She was morbidly curious of what it must look like from his perspective, so she flipped. Her legs tucked in as her tail flicked to the side, turning her hips towards the ground. Then she stuck out her legs and pulled in her arms, turning her torso to match her hips. The sight before her was frightening. The ground was coming at her, and suddenly much faster than she'd been falling. She stuck out her hands and feet, preparing to catch herself.

Her feet hit the ground before her hands, crumpling underneath her. She hit the ground, crumbling and falling hard onto her face. The chopper landed a ways away from her with a thundering, screeching crash. Andra wrapped her arms around herself and rolled over onto her back, breathing hard with the effort. _Pain_. That was all she could feel. Pain in her hands, her arms, her legs, her head… _everywhere_. Breathing came hard, and she could see dark dots in front of her vision. Her mind vaguely registered voices that were in her hearing, but they didn't stay. A part of her saw Fury above her, but the darkness creeping up on her vision pulled her in even as she fought it.

The ground beneath her shook violently, wobbling unsteadily. Only… it wasn't the ground. It was too soft to be the ground. There was a pillow under her head, and a blanket under her. It felt slightly scratchy, like it was made of wool. Something pricked her arm and she felt something being injected into her. The pain in her arm became more prevalent in her mind as the substance entered her bloodstream. She tried to protest, but all that came out was a moan. A gentle voice told her to go back to sleep and she tried to stop herself from complying, but her eyes wouldn't open themselves. Eventually she gave up trying and sleep engulfed her.

* * *

Andraste walked into the room, seeing Coulson speaking with Fury before four glass holographic screens. The Director turned to look at her and gestured for her to come closer. It was a beautiful room, in her opinion. The large glass walls were a great touch, and the glass platforms that covered the ground gave it a futuristic feel. It was still rather cold and clinical, lacking more of a color scheme than gray, dark gray, and blue, but it was very stylish for S.H.I.E.L.D. The designers had done an excellent job with their work. Most of the Helicarrier was this way, both designed for efficiency and aesthetics.

She came to stand at the makeshift podium with them. Fury touched one of the screens as Phil moved away, smiling at her. The files that appeared on the screen made her raise an eyebrow. She looked at Fury, who was looking at her.

"I want you, Coulson, and Romanoff to assemble these people."

She swallowed at the last file on the list. "I thought that was scrapped, sir."

"Yeah, well, we _need_ a response team. And I think, given the right push, they can be exactly what we need to fight Loki."

Andra absently adjusted the bottom seam of her tank top. "Not all of them are exactly 'team material,'" she reminded him. "This could blow up in our faces pretty easy."

"I understand that, Forsythe," he said simply, "But seeing as we're not equipped for this kind of fight yet, I'd say we need to take a little risk."

"Understood."

"Can you put your personal feelings aside for this?"

Andra's head snapped to her superior. Fury was serious, dead serious, and she knew that. But the fact that he'd asked about her personal feelings… that no longer mattered. It had been a long time ago now, and she was certain there was no chance of there being a repeat. That was behind her. She'd moved on. Fury should have known that, but she knew why he'd asked. None of them trusted her anymore. After _that_ mission, she was labeled a loose cannon – she couldn't handle it if things got personal. She was determined to prove them wrong. This _couldn't_ get in her way forever, she'd never do another high-stakes mission again. She _had_ to prove them wrong.

"What personal feelings, sir?"

* * *

"I thought you said you were ready for this."

Andra glanced up and caught sight of Phil. He leaned against the doorway, observing her where she sat in the middle of her bed. She looked back down to her necklace in her hands. It had been hanging from her fingers in front of her for the past ten minutes.

She swallowed. "I haven't taken it off." Her voice was quiet.

Phil pushed off the wall and pulled her chair from her desk across the room. "Three years," he reminded her, sitting in the chair and looking up at her.

"Three years," she confirmed, and sighed. "Is that weak?"

He shook his head. "You care. That's not weak; that's human."

"I shouldn't care. Caring gets you killed."

"Caring gets you love."

The room was silent for a moment. "Love gets you killed. Love makes you weak."

"Love can also make you strong," he contradicted, "Something to fight for."

Andra looked up at him, her face blank. "Do you love her?"

He smiled reminiscently. "Maybe."

"What does it feel like?"

Phil frowned and looked up into her eyes. "You should know that."

Her eyebrows furrowed and her gaze shifted to the bed in front of her. "I've forgotten."

"Maybe you need to remember," he pointed out, standing up and pushing in her chair. "Get your stuff; wheels up in ten."

She nodded curtly. "Yes, sir."

He stopped by the door. "And Andra?" She looked up at him. "Pack a mission bag."

"Why? What would I need it for?"

The corners of his mouth lifted barely. "Call it instinct."

* * *

 _I really am sorry. I'm a terrible uploader. Hopefully this summer will be better. *crosses fingers*_

 _What do you think of this chapter? No big things to announce about it. Not really._

 _Any questions, comments, concerns? Wondering why she never took it off? Review or drop me a line!_

 _\- Emmy_


	3. Chapter 3: Could Be Worse

**Chapter Three: Could Be Worse**

Andra entered the plane and sat down across from Phil, the mission bag he'd advised her to bring tucked between her legs. He gave her a smile, one she barely returned. The necklace came back out of her tank top and she played with it absentmindedly as the pilots did final check before lift-off. She could barely hear their voices anymore. After so long, they just sort of tuned out. Coulson said something to her, but at first, she didn't hear it. It wasn't until the third time he called her name that she snapped out of her trance and looked up at him.

"You okay?" he asked her, frowning in concern.

She watched his eyes flick from her face to the necklace clenched in her right hand and she quickly tucked it back behind the tank top. "I'm fine, Phil."

The look he gave her told her he didn't believe a single word she said. "Three years," he reminded her again.

She nodded. "Three years," she repeated.

"You still love him," he said, making her wince.

"A small part of me might, but that part has long since been tamped down."

"That's a lie, Andra, and you know it," he admonished in a calmly stern tone of voice, "You wouldn't have that necklace on all the time if your feelings were 'tamped down.'"

Her gaze travelled to the small window section that framed the cockpit. "Maybe."

"No, there's no maybe about it," he corrected, more stern than calm, "Do I need to pull you off this mission?"

She shook her head. "No, sir," she responded, noticing the change from friend to superior in Coulson's demeanor. "I can handle it."

His face went soft again. "Andra, if this is too much for you, there is no reason why I can't go this alone. You don't have to come with me. I can explain to Fu-"

"You don't _dare_ talk to Fury about this," she hissed, leaning forward, her ears cocking back and her tail flicking. "Fury doesn't need to know. I can handle it, Coulson."

He stiffened and leaned back in his seat at the use of his last name. "Very well. Stark is your responsibility, then. You are to watch him and make sure he looks over those files. And you bring him in. Understood, Agent?"

Andra nodded. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Within half an hour, they were there. The Tower was huge, easily the largest building in Manhattan – excepting the Empire State Building. She thought it was very sleek and almost elegant. If Tony had actually designed this, he did a good job. The landing on the helipad was smooth and painless. She unstrapped herself and stood, preparing to walk out when Phil put his hand on her shoulder. Andra looked back at him.

"I'll walk up with you. Talk to him first," he told her, and she nodded once to show her approval before they continued on. "Are you sure you're alright with this?"

She sighed. "Phil, I'm fine."

He turned and stopped her, looking her in the face. "Last time this sort of thing happened –"

"This has nothing to do with Bolivia," she snapped, then apologized. "Look, those were completely different circumstances. This won't go anything like that, we both know it won't."

"I'm worried about you," he told her, squeezing her shoulder with one hand. "Fury's still not 100% convinced you're up for field duty."

She scoffed. "I've been in the field again for three years. And… he helped. We know I'm fine. The psych eval checked out perfect."

" _Almost_ perfect," he corrected as they started walking again. "You didn't come back perfect, or Fury wouldn't be concerned."

"So I came back _almost_ perfect. That's better than a lot of people who go through that."

They reached the elevator and he sighed, pressing the button to go up. "I know that. But it's not whether most people made it through. It's whether or not _you_ made it through."

Andra took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened in front of them and they stepped inside. "I _did_ make it through. I wouldn't be standing here if I hadn't."

Her companion frowned as he hesitated in pressing the button for the top floor. "No… no, we'd have had to bury you in an early grave. I'd rather not think about that."

"Phil," she started, looking at the expression on his face, but he cut her off.

His hand dropped and he turned to look at her. "That was the dumbest call I've _ever_ seen you make, Andrasté, and I don't want to see or hear about you _ever_ trying to pull that again, understood?" He sounded exactly like a scolding parent.

She sighed. "Understood."

All was silent for a moment as he examined her features. "Andra, you know I only say that because I care, right?"

"Of course I know that," she rolled her eyes, "Now can we please get a move on before you hug me?"

He chuckled and actually pressed the top floor button. "You like my hugs."

"They're highly unprofessional," she reminded him in a snarky tone.

"Doesn't mean you don't still like them."

She actually chuckled, and he smiled at his achievement. Andra noticed the grin and scoffed. "You said that just so you'd get me to laugh, didn't you?"

Phil let his face drop to emotionless. "Of course not. Why would you think that?" he asked, pulling out his phone and dialing a number before holding it to his ear. He tried twice before groaning and pulling the phone away from his ear, pressing a few buttons and putting it back. "Stark, we need to talk."

She bumped him and listened for the person on the other end of the phone. The person had picked up and finally said, "You have reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message."

"This is urgent," he informed him, not accepting the joke.

The sound of Tony's voice didn't make her want to cry – that was a good sign, right? Instead, it was just this uneasy feeling in the bottom of her stomach. If that feeling didn't go away, this was not going to go well… not that being sent to recruit your ex ever goes well anyway. She didn't know any agents personally who had done so, but some she didn't put it past. So far none of them had had recruitment horror stories to tell, so perhaps it wouldn't go so horrifically after all.

His quip back to Phil was exactly like him. "Then leave it urgently."

At that moment, the doors of the elevator opened. Phil hung up and put his phone in his pocket as Tony turned around in his seat, seemingly not seeing her at first. That was fine with her, since she wasn't sure she wanted to be seen. Andra and Phil both walked out of the elevator at the same time, Andra hanging a tiny bit back.

Tony stood and pointed at them. "Security breach!" he exclaimed, then stared straight at Andra. "It's you."

She nodded, smiling almost nervously. "It's me."

Phil attempted to steer the conversation free of her. "Mister Stark."

At this point, Pepper Potts turned around from her seat on the couch and exclaimed, standing and walking over, "Phil! A-Andra! Come in! It's been so long since I've seen you!" She opened her arms and Andra hugged her.

Tony pointed at Phil. "Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent."

Both women ignored him. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Andra's smile wasn't nervous this time. "How have you been?"

"Great, I've been great! Come on in, we're celebrating!" Pepper looked so happy… and Andra was genuinely pleased to see it.

Tony shook his head. "Yeah, _Agent_ here can't stay," he said through gritted teeth as he walked up to them.

To his credit, Phil didn't respond much at all. "We need you to look this over," he informed him, trying to hand him the file he had pulled from the plane that Andra didn't even remember him grabbing, "Soon as possible."

"I don't like being handed things," Tony responded, his hands up like he thought the file would bite him.

"That's alright," Pepper smiled innocently, "'cause I love to be handed things. Here, let's trade." And she pulled off the most impressive swindling Andra had ever seen, switching file for champagne glass with Coulson, and then champagne glass for file with Tony, therefore making Tony end up with the file.

Andra chuckled as Tony rolled his eyes. "Impressive."

Pepper beamed. "Thank you."

Tony took the file and started walking towards his desk with it. "Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," he mentioned, looking back at them.

Phil shook his head. "This isn't a consultation."

"Is this about the Avengers Initiative?" Pepper asked, and at the blank looks on the agents' faces, suddenly backtracked, "Which I know nothing about."

Andra smirked. "Sure."

Tony called back, "The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify."

Pepper smiled. "I didn't know that either."

He went to uploading the information to JARVIS's mainframe. "Yeah, apparently I'm… volatile, self-obsessed, and don't play well with others."

"That I did know," Pepper quipped, and Andra laughed.

Phil cleared his throat. "This isn't about personality profiles anymore."

Tony sighed. "Whatever. Hey, Kitty Cat, got a minute?"

Andra walked over to him and leaned against the desk. Behind her, Phil and Pepper got to talking. "Yeah?"

He didn't look at her, focused on his work. "What're you doing here?"

She blinked for a second. "I work for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Since when?" Then he actually did look at her.

"Since a long time before I met you," she explained, "Fury called me in while I was living with you. It was of global importance. I couldn't turn him down."

Tony looked bitter. "Well, that sure explains a lot. You couldn't have left a note?"

She shrugged. "You didn't know. I wasn't supposed to tell you, anyway. You weren't working closely with S.H.I.E.L.D. then."

"So the only reason you're telling me now is because what, I've got high enough clearance to know?" his tone was _overly_ sarcastic.

Andra sighed. "If you want to put it that way, yes. The only reason I'm telling you is because you now have high enough clearance to know. You actually have a clearance level, Tony. Therefore, the fact that I'm S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't have to be hidden from you anymore. We do it for your own safety, do you get that?"

He was silent for a moment. "I get it. S.H.I.E.L.D. loves secrets so much it even made you one."

"Tony… that wasn't what I meant."

He turned to her. "So was everything you ever told me a lie?"

She shook her head. "No, it wasn't. Only that."

"Good to know," he muttered, turning back to his work and filling all the rest of the screens with information.

At that moment, Pepper walked over to them. "I'm going to take the jet to D.C. tonight."

Tony sighed. "Why not tomorrow?"

She looked at the stuff on the screen. "You've got a lot of homework."

"Yeah," he agreed, not sounding pleased.

Pepper patted his arm. "Work hard. It was nice seeing you again, Andra. We ought to catch up," she suggested merrily, hugging her.

Andra smiled as best she could, hugging her back. "We should. I'll get Doofus to give me your number so I can text you, okay?"

"Alright, bye," the infamous waved a cute little wave and went to stand by Coulson.

Both Andra's and Phil's phones went off and they both check them immediately before looking up and nodding to each other. Andra came over to the elevator, getting in it with him and Pepper.

Coulson smiled at Pepper. "I could give you a lift to the airport."

She grinned. "That would be awesome, thank you. So how's your cellist?"

His smile became a little more melancholy. "She moved back to Portland."

"No, really? Boo."

Andra shook her head. "The two of you are a cute couple."

Phil smiled again. "Only you would say that."

Pepper scoffed. "I agree with her!"

* * *

The rest of the elevator ride and the walk to the quinjet was filled with small talk. But when Andra grabbed that bag she was told to pack and went to walk back out, Pepper frowned.

"Aren't you coming with us?" she asked, confused.

Andra shook her head. "No, I've been assigned to Stark until I get him to come in. It's been dubbed my responsibility."

Pepper smiled sympathetically and walked over to her, talking in lower tones. "Be nice to him, okay? Your disappearance hit him kinda hard. He really liked you."

"I know," she agreed. "I don't know if I can mend that hole in his heart, but I'm certainly going to try."

"I think you might need to love him again to do that."

Andra smiled conspiratorially and pulled the necklace he had given her out from behind her tank top. "Three years. Never taken it off."

Pepper grinned. "I see a bright ray of sunshine in the future."

Andra disembarked the plane and they took off, leaving her behind to wave from the helipad. She stood there for a moment after they'd left, breathing in deep breaths. It had come to her attention since they'd gotten here that this was going to be harder than she gave it credit for. Seeing him was very different in person than on the internet, and though she'd tried to prepare herself, it most certainly was not working. Slowly but surely, she tamped down and put a gag around each and every one of the feelings that had resurfaced since returning to him. It was stupid, believing she could do this when she quite obviously couldn't. No… it was far from doable. But she'd been stubborn, and she'd thought she could pull this off. Ah, well. The least she knew… it wasn't as bad as Bolivia.

 _Nothing could ever be as bad as Bolivia_.

* * *

 _He was beautiful. The sunlight shone off his tan skin like he was some kind of god. She smiled. He grinned back at her. They kissed. He took her hand and led her to the water. The water was cool, but not cold. Pleasant. The sand under her feet was wet. Grainy between her toes. She followed him. Trusted him._

 _She didn't love him. That would be too much. She knew it would end when she was reassigned. He knew it would end. But they enjoyed it. It was innocent. Peaceful. Normal. Different. He kissed her again. Her smile grew. He was beautiful._

* * *

 _That last little bit at the end there? Yeah, that's right... that was a piece of Bolivia. *dun dun duuuuuuuuuh*_

 _You'll learn little bits and pieces about it and its aftermath as we go along. They'll all be in that style, little blips at the end of a chapter. They won't be at the end of every chapter, nor will they happen every time Bolivia is mentioned. But they will happen. And slowly, you'll pick up what happened. It'll be referenced throughout the story, but only little by little will be revealed. Feel free to message me with theories as we go along._

 _Any questions, comments, concerns? Wondering what happened in Bolivia or how Tony and Andra spending time together is going to go? Review or drop me a line!_

 _\- Emmy_


End file.
